B7 RS4 - interesting prices

gigeorge · 16 Jan 2015 at 08:38

It seems like yesterday these 'journo perfect' Audi's were sitting pretty at £50 ish k, but I had a quick browse on ph classifieds for an alternative to my TTS, something with more grunt, a better soundtrack and handling/traction - something rearward biased would be nice

.

I couldnt believe my eyes when i started seeing non cat d examples at around 16-17k from trade for 30-50k mile examples. Seems awfully cheap to me but an interesting upgrade to the TTS, sure id have to allow for 1/3 mpg drop and tax is probably 500 / year but what a motor for the money, eh?

What foibles should I be looking out for? Any daily drivers out there want to give me some off the cuff mpg / servicing figures?

Thanks,

xs2man · 16 Jan 2015 at 08:55

20 mpg, £1000 for front brake refresh seems to be around the norm.

They have been around that price for a while now though. Although some of the better examples seem closer to £20k, it has been a LONG time since they were £30k-50k.

[TW]Fox · 16 Jan 2015 at 09:04

They are nearly 9 year old cars now, these prices hardly seem bonkers cheap.

Building Candy · 16 Jan 2015 at 09:12

xs2man said:
... it has been a LONG time since they were £30k-50k.

...no he meant, for 30-50k MILES examples

xs2man · 16 Jan 2015 at 09:13

Building Candy said:
...no he meant, for 30-50k MILES examples

It seems like yesterday these 'journo perfect' Audi's were sitting pretty at £50 ish k

gigeorge · 16 Jan 2015 at 10:14

xs2man said:
20 mpg, £1000 for front brake refresh seems to be around the norm.

They have been around that price for a while now though. Although some of the better examples seem closer to £20k, it has been a LONG time since they were £30k-50k.

Yeah, it has. In my opening statement of ' it seems like yesterday' was more a passing comment about how time flies and my surprise at the drop in price, suggesting my perception of time passing is somewhat warped.

DAIR · 16 Jan 2015 at 10:20

[TW]Fox;27488864 said:
They are nearly 9 year old cars now, these prices hardly seem bonkers cheap.

And here comes the voice of reason to spoil the party

.

I think these cars look awesome. And would love to own one.

EddyPee · 16 Jan 2015 at 10:38

I have one as a daily and have had for 3 and a half years. Think they only made them 2006 to 2008 but they aint been 50k for a LONG time. 60k ish new I believe and I paid below half that for a 24k miler 3 years ago.

15k is a dud, 17-18k and you should see a good example with decent miles. Buy a dud and you are in for HEAVY bills.

Running costs are pretty much as you'd expect.

20mpg if you are lucky, a fill is about £80 at current prices on super and you'll get 220 out of a tank. Hooning expect 15mpg and less.
Front discs and pads I did recently and was about £1200 with Audi, Rears are about £800 discs and pads
Tyres £250 a corner minimum
Servicing with Audi on a basic service £300-£400, the last major service I did was £700 ish

Common faults would be the DRC suspension, most should have been done by Audi but beleive thats £1500-£2000k all round

Oil coolers leak and thats a full replace job, mine went a couple of years back and Audi warranty covered it but I recall it was about £1200

Ive had a steering pump go with a full system replacement required, £1700

Mine was blowing coil packs, 8x cylinders, 8 coils, £30 a go but Audi covered them all.

FSI engines coke up, does sap performance a bit depending on who you go to, most wont make rated 420bhp, 390 bhp is good, 350 coked or with a vac leak.

Tax is £500+ a year

Ive always extended the audi warranty for mine which is £800 a year but its covered me for a LOT of potential bills and id say mines been pretty solid.

Its a lot of car for not a lot of money but you need to go in to ownership with your eyes open, problems are expensive to fix, the running costs dont change even tho they are now bargain price.

The noise is addictive.

Jono8 · 16 Jan 2015 at 10:38

They seem like great cars , but stories about the running costs would put me off big time unless I was very wealthy (in which case I would probably just buy something new/newer).

shauncr91 · 16 Jan 2015 at 10:40

^Those prices make me weep

Jono8 · 16 Jan 2015 at 10:40

shauncr91 said:
^Those prices make me weep

Indeed. £2000 just for new brakes all round :eek:

DAIR · 16 Jan 2015 at 10:46

Yep.. This is what put me off of them. I know very little about them and those bills would make my heart sink.

EddyPee · 16 Jan 2015 at 10:59

at 15k plus these cars are now in the price realms of the boy racers who'd buy them without any clue on the running costs, keep them for a bit, rag them and move them on as soon as a big bill turns up so there is more and more cars with a lot of owners with problems that maybe arent obvious.

Good examples are becoming rare and prices are increasing for good examples.

I love mine but its a financial comittment, luckily I dont have other expensive hobbies!

gigeorge · 16 Jan 2015 at 11:00

EddyPee said:
at 15k plus these cars are now in the price realms of the boy racers who'd buy them without any clue on the running costs, keep them for a bit, rag them and move them on as soon as a big bill turns up so there is more and more cars with a lot of owners with problems that maybe arent obvious.

Yes, agree whole heartedly, would get a thorough checking from a indie / rac/aa type check.

Its ok, there are ways around it, i.e. phaeton disks fit and are £350, or you can get after market tarox for 500, not the end of the world is it.

Gibbo · 16 Jan 2015 at 11:03

For same money you can also get an E60 M5, that V10.

xs2man · 16 Jan 2015 at 11:05

One of my friends had one, a really good one by all accounts, and he hated it. He swapped it for a 330d and he LOVED that, within the first year or so of having the RS4. Just more that he could drive it how he wanted without worrying about the inevitable couple grand bill. Not that he couldn't afford to maintain it, far from it. He is a proper petrol head too, and drives almost everything he owns like it was stolen. But he just didn't get on with his RS4. Too fragile and special, for him at least, to be using as a daily.

In contrast, he's done around 100k in his 330d, and loved every minute of it. A LOT of that was probably sideways though.

gigeorge · 16 Jan 2015 at 11:07

xs2man said:
One of my friends had one, a really good one by all accounts, and he hated it. He swapped it for a 330d and he LOVED that, within the first year or so of having the RS4. Just more that he could drive it how he wanted without worrying about the inevitable couple grand bill. Not that he couldn't afford to maintain it, far from it. He is a proper petrol head too, and drives almost everything he owns like it was stolen. But he just didn't get on with his RS4. Too fragile and special, for him at least, to be using as a daily.

In contrast, he's done around 100k in his 330d, and loved every minute of it. A LOT of that was probably sideways though.

Very interesting

.......

gigeorge · 16 Jan 2015 at 11:09

Hmm, best go test drive one really. It was this or a c55 or M5 5.0 V8.

EddyPee · 16 Jan 2015 at 11:16

There is nothing fragile about them, well looked after examples are pretty bullet proof. They are thief magnets tho for some reason.

What so many people will forget is its a 60k car new, just cos you can get them for 15k doesnt mean the costs to run them change. No different to any car at this sort of price tho, M3 or whatever, cars will break, at the higher end they cost more to fix. Id not want to buy any car and then run on ways and means.

When I looked at mine you could get M5's and M6's for 25k ish, probably less now but thats another league of potential running costs.

Gibbo · 16 Jan 2015 at 11:19

EddyPee said:
There is nothing fragile about them, well looked after examples are pretty bullet proof. They are thief magnets tho for some reason.

What so many people will forget is its a 60k car new, just cos you can get them for 15k doesnt mean the costs to run them change. No different to any car at this sort of price tho, M3 or whatever, cars will break, at the higher end they cost more to fix. Id not want to buy any car and then run on ways and means.

When I looked at mine you could get M5's and M6's for 25k ish, probably less now but thats another league of potential running costs.

Good for bank robberies, hence loved by thiefs, no matter what the weather, with a set of decent tyres the RS4 is ones of the quickest A-B cars on the road, amazing traction and grip, only really rivalled by EVO/Scoob's which are no match for an RS4 really if you take engine noise and build quality into account.